The Wreck of the Royal Charter

St. Gallgo’s Church will be forever associated with the wreck of the
Royal Charter

“On the 26th of August, 1859, the “Royal Charter” steamship, registered
2,719 tons burthen, furnished with auxiliary engines of 200 horse-power,
steamed out of Hobson’s Bay, Victoria, bound for Liverpool. She was
equipped with her full complement of officers and crew, commanded by
Captain Taylor, who had gained golden opinion, by his previous rapid and
successful voyage, having accomplished the passage from Liverpool to
Melbourne in fifty-nine days; and who now, in charge of 400 passengers,
and a consignment of gold valued at half-a-million sterling, proudly
looked forward to completing his triumph by landing his precious freight
of life and property in Liverpool, within the same period which had been
occupied in his transit from that port to Melbourne” (Wreck of the
“Royal Charter” Steam Clipper, by A.& J.K, Dublin 1860).

A fast passage was accomplished around Cape Horn where an iceberg
approached rather close to the clipper but the passengers were more than
satisfied with the passage and expressed it in a “testimonial to Captain
Taylor on the 24th of October, when the Royal Charter lay at anchor
about twenty miles off the Cove of Cork. We need scarcely observe that
all on board the Royal Charter were animated by the hope of arriving
safe at Liverpool, from the circumstances of not a breath disturbing the
water when she steamed off the shores of Ireland”. Night approached.
“The wind, which had been freshening in the earlier part of the day, now
burst with uncontrollable fury over the devoted ship. The captain
signalled for a pilot off the Skerries, and also when off Point Lynas,
but was forced to proceed without one; for no pilot-boat dare venture
amid the breakers in the darkness of that terrible night”.

It was now eleven o’clock, p.m., and the vessel was becoming
unmanageable. The captain made an attempt to stay the ship, by bracing
the yeards the other way and squaring them, but she resisted all
efforts. The port anchor was let go, and one hundred fathoms of chain
cable paid out. Shortly after, the starboard anchor was let go, and
seventy fathom of chain; these succeeded in checking the vessel until
1.30, a.m., when the port chain parted; but while this was doing the
starboard cable also parted, and immediately after the vessel grounded”.

At day break, about 5.30 a.m., the wreck was seen from the shore by
Thomas Hughes and Mesech Williams who could do nothing but stand and
watch the tempestuous sea and the helpless wreck. “Every moment the
horrified spectators expected to see the waves burying in their depths
the wrecking vessel, and more intense became their terror and
excitement, when they beheld a man let himself down from the decks by a
rope into the midst of the breakers”

“This was the heroic Joseph Rogers (a Maltese able seaman), who
volunteered to swim with a hawser to shore, and who, though three times
driven back by the hissing floods, nobly persevered, and succeeded in
making fast the rope to the rock – now the only means that remained of
landing those on board the Royal Charter”.

Through the efforts of Rogers and the men of Moelfre, who formed a human
chain into the raging seas, 18 of some 376 passengers, 5 of 11 riggers
working their passage, 18 of more than 100 crew – no officers, were
saved. The names of the 28 local men are not to be found on any monument
and they are recorded here with pride:

The Moelfre Twenty Eight

Thomas Roberts

Owen Roberts

Owen Roberts jr.

David Williams

Mesech Williams

Robert Lewis

Thomas Hughes

John Hughes

William Owen

Richard Hughes

Evan Williams

John Parry

John Owens

Thomas Parry

John Lewis

Joseph Williams

Thomas Owen

William Williams

Richard Mathew

Israel Mathew

William Pritchard

Owen Hughes

Richard Evans

David Owen

John Lewis jr

William Owen

Lewis Francis

John Francis

Some there by who have left behind them a name to be commemorated in
story. Others are unremembered, they are perished as though they had
never existed.

Ecclesiasticus 43 v. 8 and 9

This list, together with a graphic account of the disaster and its
aftermath, is told in The Golden Wreck The Tragedy of the ‘Royal
Charter’ Alexander McKee, 0-450-41906-1). A contemporary account by
Charles Dickens is found in his Uncommercial Traveller. This account has
been reprinted in Shipwreck: Charles Dickens and the Royal Charter,
edited by Robert Williams 1-872778-03-6

The Rector of Llaneugrad and Llanallgo at the time is immortralised by
Charles Dickens in The Uncommercial Traveller. He was the Reverend
Stephen Roose Hughes whose brother, the Reverend Hugh Robert Hughes,
previously a curate in Llanallgo, was the Rector of Penrhosllugwy. He,
too, is mentioned by Charles Dickens.

The bodies of the victims of the shipwreck as they were recovered from
the sea were brought up the hill from the village to St. Gallgo’s Church
which became the mortuary. The furniture was removed to make room for
the bodies and in the meantime services were held in the Church School
which is the derelict building on the opposite side of the road to the
church half way between the church and roundabout in the direction of
Moelfre. This school was later used to hold the inquest into the
shipwreck. The school has not been in the ownership of the church for
nearly half a century.

Dickens records the care with which the reverend gentleman carefully
recorded the physical details of each body, its clothing, the contents
of the pockets and any detail which might enable an identification of
the body to be made. Each body was carefully looked after and the stream
of relatives which soon started to descend on the village came one by
one to the Rector, to his rectory and to the church to search for a
relative and to be comforted by the Rector and his family. In some cases
bodies had to be exhumed and taken away after identification. Dickens
records that Roose Hughes had written 1075 letters in reply to those
which had been written to him inquiring after loved ones.

Of those who perished 140 lie in the graveyard at Llanallgo, 64 are
buried in Llaneugrad, 45 in Penrhosllugwy buried by the Reverend Hugh
Robert Hughes. Other lie in the graveyards of the parishes on the
beaches of which they were washed up. These are Llanddyfnan.
Llanwenllwyfo, Llanfairmathafarneithaf, Llanbedrgoch, Llanddona and
Amlwch.

The strain of the event led to the early death of Stephen Roose Hughes.
He lies amongst those whose bodies were recovered from the sea. His
gravestone bears the following inscription: His noble and disinterested
exertions on the memorable occasion of the terrible Wreck of the “Royal
Charter” are well known throughout the World. The subsequent effects of
those exertions proved too much for his constitution, and suddenly
brought him to an early Grave"

He died on February 4th, 1862 a date on which the life of Stephen Roose
Hughes is celebrated annually in St. Gallgo’s Church. The oak panelling
of the chancel is in his memory.

There is in the graveyard an obelisk which was raised by public
subscription to commemorate the tragedy of the shipwreck and those who
perished. At one time this memorial was in the church over the mass
grave of the unidentified victims of the Royal Charter but it was moved
out in the early part of the 20th century.

On 24th August, 2004, a unique ceremony took place when the descendants
of Manus Boyle, a miner and one of the many victims of the wreck of the
Royal Charter, unveiled a memorial to him. After a service in church the
Rector dedicated the memorial in the presence of Dr. Josh Buch, Debbie
and Peri. Manus Boyle is Debbie's great great grandfather. After the
service it was discovered that the dedication had taken place of the
145th anniversary of the Royal Charter's departure from Melbourne,
Australia, on its fateful final journey.